Chang'e-6 Mission

Context (BBC | TH | TH): China’s Chang’e 6 mission spacecraft successfully landed in a huge crater known as the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon (the side that does not face the earth).
The mission is the sixth in the Chang’e moon exploration programme, second to the far side and is the second designed to bring back samples.

China’s Moon Exploration Programme

China’s lunar programme Chang’e (named after a Chinese moon goddess) has been launching lunar missions comprising orbiters, landers, rovers, and sample-return spacecraft since 2007.
While Chang’e 1 and 2 launched lunar orbiters, Chang’e 3 launched the Yutu rover, which conducted a series of experiments on the lunar surface.
The Chang’e 4 mission launched the Yutu-2 rover, which became the first rover to successfully soft-land on the moon’s far side. It landed in the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitkin Basin. The orbiter of Chang’s 4 was Queqiao.
Chang’e 5 mission’s lander landed on Mons Rumker, a vast volcanic plain and collected regolith (the layer of soil composed of loose rocks, dust, and other debris that covers the moon’s surface).
Chang’e 6 was a backup to Chang’e 5, and it will be followed by Chang’e 7 and 8 in 2026 and 2027.
- Chang’e-7, will explore the lunar south pole for water.
- The Chang’e-8 will aim to establish the feasibility of the International Lunar Research Station.
China was also the first country to execute an autonomous soft-landing on the moon’s far side with its Chang’e 4 mission.
When it completed the Chang’e 5 mission, China became the first country to successfully execute a robotic lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union did in 1976.

Soft landing: Landings where the spacecraft is mostly undamaged and can lift off again if desired.

Rovers are wheeled payloads attached to the lander spacecraft that can detach and move independently on the moon’s surface. They collect close-quarters data and overcome the limitations of stationary landers. For e.g., Pragyaan Rover in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

Chang’6 is the first human sampling and return mission from the far side of the moon for the first time.
It launched on May 3, 2024, on a Long March 5 booster from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center and returned its samples on June 25, 2024.
It comprises four modules: an orbiter, a return vehicle, a lander, and an ascender.
Objective: To collect about 2 kg of material from the far side of the Moon and bring it back to Earth.
The lander was equipped with multiple sensors, including microwave, laser and optical imaging sensors, which can measure distance and speed and identify obstacles on the lunar surface.

A small spacecraft of China’s Chang’e 6 lander carrying lunar samples (soil and rocks) lifted off from the moon’s far side and headed towards the orbiter in the Moon’s orbit.
This orbiter will transfer the samples to a returner, set to bring the first-ever far-side moon samples back to Earth (June 25) and mark China as the first and only nation to accomplish this feat.
The far-side samples are expected to provide critical insights into the moon’s asymmetrical nature – why the far side differs so dramatically from the near side.
These samples could shed light on the broader processes of planetary formation, offering lessons that extend beyond our moon to the formation of Earth and other celestial bodies.

ISRO’s Chandrayaan programme is expected to launch a lunar sample-return mission in 2028.
India, along with other nations, has endorsed the US-led Artemis Accords, which facilitate collaborative lunar exploration endeavours aimed at fostering knowledge exchange in the upcoming decade. China is not a part of the accords.

It is often called the “dark side” because it is not visible from Earth.
Compared to the near side, it has a thicker and older crust with more visible craters. The far side is less covered by ancient lava flows.
The far side has rockier terrain and fewer smooth plains than the near side. This is believed to be due to heat released by the earth when the moon formed and the thermochemical characteristics of the moon’s near-side surface.
The Earth screens the moon’s far side from the solar wind, which is expected to have allowed the far side to retain more helium-3.
The far side is expected to be a good place to install large telescopes, which would have a view of the universe unobstructed by the Earth.
Scientists believe studying materials from this side could provide insights into the Moon’s formation.
Five years ago, China landed a rover on the Moon’s far side, becoming the first country to do so.